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Faith
is a funny thing; to place one’s faith in something as vagarious as a
director’s talent is downright ridiculous, but there I am when it comes
to Korean director Kim Ji-woon. Director Kim hypnotized me years ago
with his creepy thriller, A Tale of Two Sisters, then blew my mind with
his unthinkable, brilliantly madcap remake of The Good, The Bad and The
Ugly, ingeniously titled The Good, The Bad, The Weird. Then Kim rolled
over the remaining pieces of my cerebellum with the sublime, psychotic
cat and mouse thriller, I Saw the Devil, which was at the top of our
Glorious Things list in 2011. There was simply nothing the director had
put his hand to that found any fault with me. However, when it was
announced that Kim’s first US project would be a vehicle for Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s return as a big screen action hero, I have to admit to
my faith being slightly shaken.
Killer
on the loose! An extremely dangerous man has escaped from federal
custody, employing a plan of such detail and brilliance as to make the
FBI look like a bunch of Barney Fifes. The mastermind behind the scheme
is Gabriel Cortez, a drug cartel leader with a thing for psychosis and
speed, preferably at the same time. Commandeering an experimental one
thousand horsepower Corvette that moves faster than a helicopter, the
thug means to escape the US and break for the Mexican border. En route
to his exodus is a sleepy Arizona town whose sheriff is a former LAPD
drug cop currently enjoying the slow pace of a world where everybody
knows your name and the most dangerous thing that happens is a deputy
trying to get a cat out of a tree. Sheriff Ray Owen‘s bucolic existence
is disturbed by the appearance of some strangers that send old instincts
kicking in. Sure enough, the newcomers are up to no good and the phone
call Ray receives from the FBI confirms far more than his worst
suspicions: The escaped criminal plans to use Sommerton Junction as his
bridge into Mexico and out of the grips of US law. Sadly for Cortez and
his cronies who’ve set up shop in Sommerton, they don’t realise they’ve
messed with the wrong sheriff of the wrong one-horse town.
It’s a
simple enough premise and decent ground to sow some good action seeds
with. Could it be too simple? There’s the inclusion of the super
Corvette which makes the FBI agent despair of having to chase “a
psychopath in a Batmobile.” The added subplot of a dirty fed who
assists Cortez in his schemes (Why? Dunno.). The showcase of
guns of every shape and stripe known to man -- I think I even saw a
blunderbuss somewhere. But mostly the movie is meant as a vehicle to
welcome 65-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger back to action movie
audiences. After all, an entire generation has passed since he traded
Hollywood for the California governor’s mansion. The former pro
muscleman’s cinematic glory days can only be accessed on home video and
constant repeats of The Terminator on cable television. His cameo in
fellow old man action hero, Sylvester Stallone’s hit, The Expendables,
and again later in its sequel seemed to have lit a fire under
Schwarzenegger to return to the screen. The challenge would be to place
him in a film that wouldn’t induce the viewer to laugh at the egotism of
someone trying to act a role clearly meant for someone several decades
younger. The Last Stand meets those requirements perfectly. Sheriff
Ray’s heyday, like Schwarzenegger’s, is behind him. He’s wisely moved
into a safe, yet content old age, but is still more capable than his
entire four-person police force. You won’t see Schwarzenegger’s Ray
leaping over tall buildings, running miles at top speed or doing
Matrix-like kung fu on people. You will see him shoot very large, high
capacity guns, for which one must have the center of gravity of an oak
tree. We’ll even see him bust out some tried and true wrestling moves,
where his still-muscular bulk and experience has an acceptable chance
against whippersnapper outlaws. To that end, The Last Stand’s
requirements of Schwarzenegger make sense to the audience. Where The
Last Stand attempts to go above and beyond the call of a simple star
vehicle is in its choice of Korean director, Kim Ji-woon, known for
telling stories via occasionally over-the-top, yet intelligent and
disciplined methods. His use of crazy camerawork and quick-cut editing,
unblinking use of gore and a deliciously twisted dark humour are
hallmarks of his films. While extremely tame by Korean standards, those
qualities are at least discernible in The Last Stand. We have the
bombast of a zillion guns blazing, lots of explosive pyrotechnics, some
high-velocity stunt driving and some genuinely funny moments (Though
usually not via the more obvious attempts). Kim keeps the momentum
moving and the pace tight once all roads lead to sleepy Sommerton,
possibly making up for the decreased physicality of his star. While
there is gore and possibly the inevitable discomfort of seeing such
gleeful use of firepower during these bitter times in reality when
glamourising guns is simply not the thing; The Last Stand’s heedless
machismo, imbued with the comedy often supplied by the real talk of the
excellent Luis Guzman (“We could turn our backs for a half hour!”),
Schwarzenegger himself as the occasionally exasperated sheriff, or
the bizarre sight of a shotgun-wielding granny, almost makes the film
feel like a period piece. Even the super powered Corvette is a revamped
1970’s icon. It’s a canny choice by Kim to make the humour and action
so over the top as to be “guilt-free”; having no basis in reality and so
that much more enjoyable. Still, Kim Ji-woon aficionados should be
warned that the film is less than the unpredictable zeitgeist fans have
come to expect from him. I’m afraid too many cooks and the limitations
it seems every successful Asian filmmaker comes up against in the US,
have simply watered down the innovative director’s singular style and
creative vision. This isn’t to say that the movie is all bad, not at
all; it’s just never quite “a Kim Ji-woon film”. Modern tech and flying
blood squibs aside, The Last Stand is far more reminiscent of the wacky,
stunt-heavy Hal Needham/Burt Reynolds adventures of the 1970s and 80s
like The Cannonball Run or Smokey and the Bandit and should be enjoyed
on the completely visceral level of those films.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
January 18th 2013
Click here to read our exclusive 2011 interview
with director Kim Ji-woon
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